Friday, October 28, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Minnesota series wrapped up the last weekend in September at St. Cloud and the Singletrack Escape. A handful of riders toed the line to battle one more time against series competitors. Great job to everyone racing the Minnesota series and thanks for waving the flag.

Alye DeRoma finishing strong in the Short and Fat en route to a top 10 female finish and first place in age group.Dan DeRoma pushing to a 65th place finish and 2nd in the age group.

Jay and Jonell back in action on the tandem in the Short and Fat.Jake Richards racing in the 40 for the first time recording a 59th overall finish.Brandon Charboneau on Seely Fire Tower Climb. Placed 817th Overall.

Mason Bacso on Fire Tower hill, placing 164th overall.

Always smiling and positive Steve Wenzel after completing another 40 in 349th place in 2:41:41Jeff Hall of Team Hollywood, (Maplelag partnered with team H-Wood), nailing down a top 15. Former winner of the Fat Tire 40 and Short and Fat.

Mr H-Wood himself having fun in the 40.Kristi Henderson taking on her first 40.

Other team placings (sorry no photos) include Matt Engen at 706th place and breaking the 3 hour barrier, and Denny Barry at 1003 place, just missing getting under 1000Sunday was Crit Cross racing action. Mason, Jake and Jay in the start of the A final.

Jake bunny hopping the barriers and would eventually take the win in a nice battle with Joseph Maloney.

Mason Bacso crossing to a spot on the podium with a third place finish.

Jay rolling across fourth as the rain was coming down nicely making for perfect conditions. 3 of 4 team riders in the top four.Jon Richards going low during the Sunday Funday bike limbo. Jon won the event.Jake taking another bunny hopping title. Was third in the hill climb.

Great job to everyone this past weekend. Lots of great riding the next month or so....keep the wheels moving!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Wow, awesome weekend of mountain biking at the home base as 25 riders waved the flag in great form (and Eleni making noise nicely!). I think pretty much everyone had one of their best races of the season at some point of the weekend. A good indication of how this team is as they display their awesome riding skills on the challenging course at Maplelag. Great job to everyone who toed the line and thanks for doing such a great job of representing. We are proud of everyone and honored to have such a solid team.

Mason Bacso starting the weekend out by hitting the lake jump, throwing down a 360.

Nephew Ripley Garden racing in Kids Comp. "Uncle Jay, I want to do two laps in the short track, not one".

Nephew Garret Horsager charging at the finish line after having chain trouble.Nephew Grant Horsager dicing it up in Kids Comp.Ben Wenzel not giving up after breaking a chain.Jeff Beck weaving through the trees. Jeff had the Paramount tent set up helping out riders with any tech issues.Jack Richards racing Kids Comp. Jack did all three stages this year. Proud of Jack.Tony Schmitz on the new Twin Lakes singletrack. Tony designed the race shirts.Denny Barry showing the youngans how it is done in Sport on the lakeside drops.Michael Cisek lakeside.Tom Heilman racing Sport.

Corey Coogan Cisek putting everything on the table and picking the good line in the short track. Consistent second place finishes.Matt Wenzel having a great weekend stepping on the podium often and taking second overall in the stage race for Comp.Steve Wenzel having a top notch weekend as he leads a group in the short track.Matt Horner also having one of his best weekends of the season.Dan DeRoma hitting the Maplelag trails for the first time, racing Comp.Sam Oftedahl mixing it up in the short track, pulling Hollywood through. Hollywood's new team kits waving the Maplelag flag nicely. Top three finish in the cross country. Almost bridging the gap to second.Lars Ellefson doing battle with Devin Curran. Lars was running good in the xc until his rear derailleur blew up.Jake Richards leading the chase group in the short track en route to his best ever finish at fourth.Mason Bacso going all out in short track.Alye DeRoma climbing lakeside, en route to a fourth place finish Elite women. First time racing at Maplelag.Love this picture. Wyatt and Devon Horner chatting it up with Cole Johnson pre-race. Cole has been waving the shorts during the season.Jens Richards throwing it down in short track.Andrea Horner making for an exciting race in short track.Eric Oftedahl posting consistent top 7 results over the weekend and top five stage race.Jake and Jessica Stelter rolling the tandem in the time trial.

Thanks again to everyone and awesome job racing.Keep the wheels moving!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

A relatively quiet weekend of racing for the team as we gear up for the big Laddies Loppet weekend here at Maplelag. Team riders Lars Ellefson, Jeff Beck, Tony Schmitz and Denny Barry hit up the 2nd running of the Black's Grove mountain bike race. Lars recently returned from the summer in Oregon and took the win! Tony provides a full recap on this fun trail system.

Sunday August 28th was the 2nd Annual “Blacks Grove River Crossing” in Wadena, MN. Another low key grassroots event that has popped up in North Central Minnesota to showcase it’s fun, tight and twisty singletrack.

A beautiful morning with temps in the low to mid 60’s greeted around 20 riders as they rolled to the line as the Mayor of Wadena was firing up the charcoal for the post race picnic. A quick 3-2-1-GO! and we were off, with a fast prologue loop around the inside of the park sorting things out before entering the hard, fast conditions in the singletrack. There was a nice fast and flowy start through some open field pines dropping down across a bridge for our first “River Crossing” before entering the tight and twisty.

I was feeling pretty good hanging in a group of four riders before slowly falling back a bit and then feeling some pressure coming from behind me by Wadena local and trailcrew volunteer Todd Hale and also Jack Ellefson who I had a fun battle with last year on this course. Then, as I slipped on a corner just prior to a ledge drop along the river and went O.T.B. and yard sale'd. While picking up the discounted items (bike, sunglasses and making sure I didn’t loose the tools from my jersey pocket) Jack and Todd both went by me only to catch Todd later on after throwing his chain. Then the fun began keeping it tight with Todd and another Wadena trail local Thad Schulz making for a good cat and mouse for the whole last half a lap ending in a sprint finish with Todd getting me by a bike length and hearing Thad hammering behind me, making it one of the most fun races for me as I’m usually stuck between groups and riding solo for a majority of a race.

Taking top honors were Lars Ellefson, who recently got back from Oregon spending the summer XC skiing and mountain biking, followed by 10 time X-Games SnoCross Medalist Tucker Hibbert and last years winner, Fergus Falls’ fast and fit David Jenson.

A great hometown event again with the Mayor of Wadena, Wayne Wolden not only grilling hamburgers and brats, but presenting Spirit Award pins to Terry Olsen and Trisha Marczak who had a nasty fall, injuring her hand but stayed strong to finish the race. A kids race was also held prior with local boy Isaac Hale taking the win along with Eleni Schmitz and Joe Najjar smiling their way across the finish line.

I definitely plan on making this a yearly race stop and hopefully this race will stay on the same weekend each year making it a great warm up for next weekend's Laddies Loppet at Maplelag.